ABC reporter Elizabeth Vargas goes public with alcoholism

New York • ABC News reporter Elizabeth Vargas is publicly acknowledging that she's an alcoholic, and says it took her years to admit it.

In an interview aired Friday on "Good Morning America," Vargas said hiding it from others left her "exhausted." Her go-to drink was wine which, increasingly during her adulthood, she used to manage her anxiety and stress.

She said she had suffered panic attacks since she was a child.

Last fall, Vargas spent several weeks in a treatment facility and is now in Alcoholics Anonymous. She told "GMA" co-anchor George Stephanopoulos she's "proud" of confronting her problem.

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